Around Thanksgiving, the Angels finalized a contract agreement with seven-time Gold Glove center fielder Torii Hunter. The year before, it had been Matthews who signed a lucrative, multi-year contract as a free agent to be the Angels’ center fielder.

The move could have felt like a kick in the stomach for Matthews, a sign the Angels regretted signing him a year earlier – or reason for Matthews himself to regret the decision to come to Anaheim.

But that was not his initial reaction, Matthews maintains.

“I was happy for Torii,” Matthews said. “Torii and I go pretty far back, so I was happy to see him get a five-year deal. Actually when I got mine, he called and thanked me because he knew he was going to get five (years). We had a nice laugh.

“A year later, here we are.”

Where they are will often be side by side in the Angels’ outfield. Hunter’s addition has made Matthews the most expensive fourth outfielder in baseball at $9 million this season – and possibly the busiest. Manager Mike Scioscia plans to rotate his four outfielders through the DH spot, giving Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson regular rest in that limited role to keep them healthy and productive over the long season.

It’s a plan that relies on Matthews’ versatility. That is the full half of the glass on which Matthews prefers to focus.

“I don’t look at it as a step backwards,” he said. “I look at it as … I’m versatile enough for them to bring Torii in here and still play every day.

“We needed to add a bat, and Torii was the best all-around player on the (free-agent) market once (Alex Rodriguez) went back to the Yankees. Torii just happens to be a center fielder.”

Getting to that point of acceptance wasn’t as easy as Matthews now makes it sound. Scioscia and general manager Tony Reagins had conversations with Matthews after the Hunter signing, assuring him of his importance to the team. And Matthews talked about the situation with his father, former major-league player and coach Gary Matthews Sr., as well as teammate and friend Justin Speier and Justin’s father, former major-league player and coach Chris Speier.

“To be honest, I never saw any of that (bitterness) from Gary, and I hung out with him a lot in the offseason,” Justin Speier said. “He handled it great. He knew we were going to be a better team with Torii here. He knows he (Matthews) is a very versatile player, and he’s still going to be in the lineup every day.”

Matthews said the best advice came from Chris Speier, who had fought against a position switch during his career.

“He was playing shortstop at the time and they wanted him to move to second. He refused to do it, and I think he ended up forcing a trade,” Matthews said. “He said he couldn’t speak for me, but for him it was a little bit of a regret. He’s older and maybe he would have handled it differently because it ended up not working out and they needed him at short.”

The Angels have made Matthews feel needed.

“His role has been modified a little bit on the defensive end, but his role as far as what we need from him as a player hasn’t changed all that much,” Scioscia said of Matthews. “We need him to get into the batter’s box and get comfortable and give us the production he’s capable of giving. Whether he’s playing left field or right field or he’s DH-ing or whatever the case may be – we need that production from him on the offensive end.”

Also: Ervin Santana allowed four runs in the first four innings Sunday, but Juan Rivera’s two-run single highlighted a three-run seventh as the Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4. Kendry Morales hit his second home run of the spring. … John Lackey is scheduled to make his first start of the spring today against Oakland. Lackey will throw approximately 30 pitches. … Live broadcasts of weekday games will be available on 830-AM beginning today. The online feed at www.angelsbaseball.com will still be available for free.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.